December 2012

December 31, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After Sunday’s devastating 111-86 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion was not a happy camper.

Marion has watched as the Mavs have lost nine of their past 10 games, including the past six. And the losses don’t have him in a good mood.

Especially those eight games this season where the Mavs have lost by 20 or more points.

“Sometimes you’re going to lose games, but not lose by 20 points,’’ Marion said. “That’s a different story.

“A loss is a loss, but sometimes the deficit is what’s killing us right now. You lose by three or four points, then so be it. That’s a tough break some nights, but (bleeping) 20 points? (Expletive delete)! That’s enough of that!’’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With his team mired in a terrible slump, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle spent time during Monday’s practice trying to make sure all his players are on the same page.

The Mavs have lost nine of their last 10 games, including losses in their past six games. It also includes embarrassingly getting blown out two games in a row in front of their home crowd by Denver(106-85) and San Antonio (111-86).

This is indeed uncharted territory for the Mavs, who have made the playoffs the past 12 seasons.

“We worked hard today and we’re going to stay positive as a staff and we’re going to encourage those guys to stay positive,’’ Carlisle said. “There are a lot of little things right now that are adding up to a sub-total of things that turn out to be bigger things, and we’ve got to keep working and shoring those things up.

“Little things like the untimely turnovers, the missed rebounds, some of the decision-making at just the wrong time. So we’ll keep studying it, we’ll keep coaching it, and those guys will keep working on it and we’re going to get better.’’

The Mavs (12-19) will meet the Washington Wizards (4-24) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Verizon Center.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an attempt to inject a burst of energy into their offense, the Dallas Mavericks recalled point guard Jared Cunningham from the D-League on Monday.

A rookie from Oregon State, Cunningham played seven games for the Frisco-based Texas Legends and averaged 18.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 37 minutes per contest. The 6-4, 194-pounder had earlier averaged just 2.3 points in 3.4 minutes while playing seven games for the Mavs before they sent him to the D-League on Dec. 11.

“I think it’s good to have high energy athletic guys around,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “He had a stint in the D-League, he got a chance to play some minutes, so now he’ll be back with us until -- if and when -- we decide to have him go back down.’’

Cunningham will be battling Darren Collison, Dominique Jones and Rodrigue Beaubois for playing time as the Mavs (12-19) face the Washington Wizards (4-24) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Verizon Center.

“He did some good things (for the Legends) and he got some good minutes,’’ Carlisle said of Cunningham. “That’s important.

December 30, 2012

DALLAS At least this time the final score was closer. But the results, unfortunatelyfor the Dallas Mavericks, were the same.

For the second time in eight days, the San Antonio Spurs blew out the Mavs and showed why they are one of the NBA’s elite teams. Sunday’s 111-86 Spurs’ victory before a sellout crowd of 19,928 at American Airlines Center was closer than the 129-91 shellacking San Antonio put on the Mavs on Dec. 30 in the Alamo City.

It was the sixth straight loss for the Mavs, who have dropped nine of their last 10 games and fell to 12-19 on the season. It also was the eighth time this season the Mavs have lost a game by 20 or more points.

In addition, this is just the third time since Mark Cuban bought the Mavs from Ross Perot Jr. on Jan. 4, 2000 that the Mavs have gone through a period where they lost six consecutive games. The first time happened from Feb. 29, 2000-Mar. 9, 2000, and the second time occurred from Jan. 6-17, 2011.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 21 points and nine assists, Manu Ginobili had 20 points and five assists, Tim Duncan picked up 18 points and 10 rebounds, Tiago Spiller had 13 points and six rebounds, and Boris Diaw finished with 10 points.

Darren Collison paced the Mavs with 18 points and eight assists, Elton Brand had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Kaman collected 13 points and nine boards, and Vince Carter had 13 points. In his fourth game since returning from arthroscopic right knee surgery, Dirk Nowitzki played 23 minutes, scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots and was only 3-of-9 from the field.

This was the last game of the year 2012 for the Mavs, who open 2013 with back-to-back games at Washington on Tuesday and at Miami on Wednesday before returning home to play New Orleans on Saturday.

DALLAS -- In analyzing what happened last Sunday in San Antonio when the Spurs converted 20-of-30 three-pointers en route to a 129-91 win over Dallas, Mavericks center Chris Kaman noted that communications broke down all over the place.

"I think we broke down a little bit in our pick-and-roll ocverages and didn't get to where we wanted to go,'' Kaman said after this morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center. "We've just got to be more alert to their shooters.

"We weren't ready for that 20 for 30 effort they gave us.''

The Mavs (12-18) hope the Spurs (23-8) don't have another torrid shooting display in their arsenal when the two teams meet at 6:30 tonight at the AAC. In order to prevent that from happening, Kaman figures the Mavs need to contain Spurs point guard Tony Parker.

"One of the biggest things of all is keeping Parker out of that middle,'' Kaman said. "And that's tough to do, but that's what they're so good at.

"When you leave to help, then he throws it to a guy for a three, and then you're kind of stuck with your hands down. We've just got to do a job on Parker the best we can.''

DALLAS -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was doing an interview after this morning's shoot around at the American Airlines Center when he looked over and saw forward Stephen Jackson typing something on his cell phone.

That's when Popovich couldn't help but share his opinions -- tongue-in-cheek, obviously -- about Jackson.

"Jack's a pain in the (butt),'' Popovich said. "Look at him, all he does is twitters.

"He's twittering some stuff right now that'll probably get him fined, and then I've got to call the league and talk to the league and say, 'Yeah, I talked to him.' ''

Jackson then chimed in and said: "It's not Twitter. It's Instagram.''

By the way, the NBA fined Jackson $25,000 back on Dec. 10 for making a hostile threat -- via his Twitter account -- directed at Oklahoma City forward Sereg Ibaka. Jackson's tweet read: "Somebody tell serg Abaka. He aint bout dis life. Next time he run up on me im goin in his mouth. That's a promise. He doin 2 much.''

The Spurs, of course, said Jackson's tweet was unacceptable. However, they do like the edgy part of his game.

"I love his sense of humor and I love his competitiveness,'' Popovich said. "He gives us a little bit of an edge.

"It's great to have him, and the guys really appreciate him, especially Timmy (Duncan). He's been one of Timmy's favorite players through the years, so it's great having him back with the squad.''

As far as keeping Jackson out of trouble, Popovich said: "He stays at my house. I keep him at my house so I know what he's doing.''

Over the past five games, the Dallas Mavericks' leading scorer had scored just 44 points, committed 24 turnovers, handed out 20 assists, grabbed 15 rebounds and accumulated 11 steals. He also is just 16-of-53 from the field, including only 3-of-21 from three-point range.

Coach Rick Carlisle spent some time this morning watching film with Mayo, with special attention on his plethora of turnovers.

"I think it's just important that he simplifies his approach in terms of attacking with the ball,'' Carlisle said. "He's just got to make sure that he's more efficient, he's more mindful of the fact that teams are committing two and three guys to him in a lot of situations, and instead of trying to attack those clusters of defensive players, be able to pick the ball up and make the right pass to cause a four-on-three or three-on-two on the other side of the floor.

"He can do it. He's certainly a capable guy and a guy that wants to do well and wants to help the team win. We've just got to help him make the adjustment.''

Mayo, of course, is not used to being the No. 1 scoring option since he arrived in the NBA four years ago. Heck, he wasn't even in the starting lineup the past two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies.

"This is part of the adjustment to becoming a premier scorer on a team -- you're going to get that kind of attention,'' Carlisle said. "This period has been tough, but he's learning things and he's going to get better.''

DALLAS -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the Dallas Mavericks are totally different when they have a healthy Dirk Nowitzki on the floor than they are when Nowitzki is sitting on the bench in street clothes.

"It's like night and day,'' Popovich said after Sunday morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center. "He's one of the greatest players that's ever touched the court, so you take him off the court and everybody else has to play a whole lot differently.''

Popovich compared losing Nowitzki to a situation where if the Spurs had to play without forward Tim Duncan.

"If all a sudden Tim wasn't on the court for us we'd run around like animals trying to figure out what the hell we're supposed to do,'' Popovich said. "We wouldn't know where to go -- we'd just be lost.

"So it's reasonable to think that the same things happen with other teams when somebody like that who is so important to the stability of the program isn't there. And when he comes back, it takes time to adjust back again.''''

The Mavs (12-18) and Spurs (23-8) face each other at 6:30 tonight at the ACC.

DALLAS --Tim Duncan will be 37years old in April. But the San Antonio Spurs' forward has played so well this season, it's as if he's 27 years old.

Going into Sunday's 6:30 p.m. game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center, Duncan is averaging 17.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. In other words, he's been one of the more efficient players for the Spurs.

"It's a credit to what he does all year long, but especially in the summer. He works out consistentlyBy that I don't mean he's throwing tires. He does stretching flexibilitykinds of things, and he's adamant about what he puts in his body more than anything.''

Duncan, indeed, does looks leaner and meanr than he has in recent years.

"It helps him maintain a little bit of athleticism. He's never been a leaper or a Mr. Quick or that kind of thing. but he's driving by people, he's pivoting in the post, he's starting and stopping better than he ever has before. He's playing better than he has probably in the last couple or two, three, four years. It's unbelievable.''

Mavs coach Rick Carslisle has marveled about how Duncan has been able to maintain his superstar status during a time when most players his age would likely have a consistent dropoff in their game.

"It's clear that he has a great love and respect for the game, and he loves playing,'' Carlisle said. "So that always is a big help.

"And he's been able to keep his health right. They've done a great job in keeping his minutes at the right number over the last several years to keep him still energetic and bouncing around out there.''

Popovich, who has won four NBA titles -- all with Duncan -- refuses to take credit for his 15th-year veteran's success.

"it's not like we've done some magical thing or we put him on a program,'' Popovich said. "He's done it himself.''

Popovich then went on a tongue-in-cheek statement about Duncan.

"I haven't coached him in about 10 years,'' Popovich said. "We don't even talk to each other.

"We're tried of looking at each other. I'm just glad he shows for the game.''

Asked if he's using Duncan more on the low post than in previous years, Popovich said: "Not really. I just let him do what he wants. I follow him around.

"He's got another year left on his contract, so I'll follow him for another year. I'm smart.''